Wiring device and securing means therefor



March 17, 1964 o. L. TAYLOR 3,125,629

WIRING DEVICE AND SECURING MEANS THEREFOR Original Filed Oct. 21, 1954 SSheets-Sheet 1 Fig.l.

l2 TIIIIZ TSI WITNESSES mvsm'oa 'fibmmggi Owen L. Taylor M F av ATTORNEYMarch 1964 o. TAYLOR 3,125,629

WIRING DEVICE AND SECURING MEANS THEREFOR Original Filed Oct. 21, 1954 5Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig.5.

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Mam}! 1964 o. L. TAYLOR 3,125,629

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United States Patent 3,125,629 WIRING DEVICE AND SECURING MEANS THEREFQROwen L. Taylor, Bridgeport, Conm, assignor, by mesne assignments, toWestinghouse Electric Corporation, a

My invention relates generally to electric wiring devices and moreparticularly to a new and improved means for securing the componentparts of such devices together so that all of the parts are properlysecured therein.

This application is a continuation of my earlier filed applicationSerial No. 801,773, filed March 25, 1959, entitled Wiring Device and nowabandoned.

The latter application is a division of my application Serial No.463,771, filed October 21, 1954, now issued as US. Patent 2,915,735 andentitled Wiring Device.

Although in principle my invention is applicable to a Wide variety ofwiring devices, it is more particularly suitable for the smaller lowvoltage devices, such as household wiring devices, where the use ofstandard fastening means represents a substantial percentage of the costof the complete wiring device. Such prior electrical devices have, ingeneral, employed separate cooperating fastening means for holding thevarious component parts of the device together. As can be appreciated,such an assembly procedure involves the use of additional material andhandling which increases the manufacturing cost of the devices.

Accordingly, one object of my invention is to provide a new and improvedwiring device of simple construction.

Another objects of my invention is to provide a new and improved wiringdevice having a minimum of component parts which may easily be assembledand having improved means for making electrical connections thereto.

Another object of my invention is to provide a new and improved meansfor holding the component parts of a device assembled together.

Still another object of my invention is to provide a new and improvedwiring device wherein an integral portion of the mounting yoke thereofis utilized to hold the device together by means of a cam action.

A more specific object of my invention is to provide a new and improvedwiring device having a two piece housing with a yoke member engageablewith one part of the housing and having an integral portion manuallymovable externally from the housing to engage the other part of saidhousing whereby the housing and the component parts therein are heldtogether.

Another more specific object of my invention is to provide a new andimproved wiring device having a two piece housing with the mounting yokethereof engaged with one part of said housing and having a movableportion engageable with a cam surface on the other part of said housingto lock said housing parts together.

Another object of my invention is to provide a new and improved meansfor attaching mounting means to a wiring device.

A still further object of my invention is to provide a yoke having meansengageable with the housing of a wiring device upon movement of the yoketo secure the yoke to the housing.

A more specific object of my invention is to provide a yoke memberhaving an extending portion which engages an integral portion of ahousing of a wiring device upon movement of the yoke in order to securethe yoke -to the housing.

These and other objects of my invention will become more apparent uponthe consideration of the following detailed description of a wiringdevice incorporating components constructed in accordance with theprinciples of my invention, when taken in connection with the attacheddrawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of a duplex receptacle constructedin accordance with the principles of my invention;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the bottom half of the receptacle shown inFIG. 1 with the electrical connecting and conducting means shown locatedtherein;

FIG. 3 is a transverse cross-sectional view of the duplex receptacleshown in FIG. 1 taken substantially along the lines III-11! thereof;

FIG. 4 is a transverse cross-sectional view of the duplex receptacleshown in FIG. 1 taken substantially along the line lV-IV thereof;

FIG. 5 is a top plan view of the bottom half of the receptacle as shownin REG. 2 but with all electrical components removed;

FIG. 6 is a bottom plan view of the duplex receptacle shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a bottom plan view of the top half of the duplex receptacleshown in FIG. 1 with the yoke member shown located therein;

FIG. 8 is a longitudinal sectional View of the top half of the duplexreceptacle shown in FIG. 7 taken substantially along the lines VlliVIllthereof with the yoke removed therefrom;

FIG. 9 is a top plan view of a yoke constructed in accordance with theprinciples of my invention;

FIG. 10 is a cross sectional view of the top half of the duplexreceptacle shown in FIG. 7 taken substantially along the lines XXthereof with the yoke removed therefrom; and,

FIG. 11 is a cross sectional view of another duplex receptacleconstructed in accordance with the principles of my invention takensubstantially along a transverse plane to one side of its lateral centerline.

Although my invention is suitable for various types of wiring devices,for the purpose only of illustrating my invention, the drawings anddescription disclose the invention as embodied in a duplex electricalreceptacle wherein it has certain novel features of cooperation. It isto be realized, however, that many features of the invention couid beutilized in a number of other types of wiring devices.

Referring to the drawings, it will be noted that a receptacleconstructed in accordance with the principles of my invention comprisesan upper housing 2, a lower housing 4, a pair of electrical terminals 6and a pair of springs 5 located within the housings 2 and 4, and a yoke8 for securing the housings 2 and 4 together. Upper housing 2 and lowerhousing 4 are formed from any suitable insulating material preferably ofa molded insulating material which may readily be provided with thenecessary formed structure as hereinafter described. Electricalterminals 6 are formed from any suitable electrical conducting material,such as copper or brass, which may readily be formed in a manner ashereinafter described. Springs 5 are formed from any suitableresilientmaterial, such as spring steel, which has a sufiicient resilience tooperate in the manner as hereinafter described. Yoke 8 is formed of anysuitable material which has sufficient structural strength, such assheet metal.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 7, it will be noted that the upper housing 2 isan elongated irregularly formed member having a pair of irregularlyformed downwardly extending laterally spaced sides 10 and a pair ofupwardly extending longitudinally spaced approximately circular faces12, in each of which are located a pair of laterally spaced slots 14.Slots 14 are provided in order that the prongs of a male connector plug(not shown) may be inserted to engage the electrical terminals 6. Inorder to facilitate theinscrtion of such prongs, the outer faces 12 ofthe upper housing 2 are slightly dished inwardly, and an integraldivider projection 16 is provided on each face 12 between the slots 14which provides additional insulation between the two slots 14.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and lower housing 4 comprises'an elongatedapproximately rectangular base 28 which is provided with upwardlyextending formed side walls 30 which in turn are joined together at eachend of the base 28 by upwardly extending end walls 32. The upper edgesof side walls 39 of lower housing 4 are adapted to engage the loweredges of side walls of upper housing 2 when the receptacle is assembled,as' will more particularly be described hereinafter. Lower housing 4 isalso provided with a longitudinally extending formed barrier 18 betweenthe two ends 32 on substantially its longitudinal center line whichextends upwardly so as to divide the housing 4 into two longitudinallyextending chambers 3 on each side of barrier 18. As will be more clearlydescribed, each chamber 3 of housing 4 is formed in a manner to supporta terminal and a spring clamp 5 therein.

Referring to FIG. 2, the terminals 6 as shown thereinexte'nd'longitudinally within each chamber 3 and each comprises alongitudinally extending wire engaging portion which slidably engagesthe inner surface of the adjacent side wall 36, and a prong engagingportion 22 laterally offset therefrom at each end thereof and locatedadjacent the barrier 18 and the inner surface of adjacent end walls 32.In asembling the terminal 6 within housing 4, it will be noted thathousing 4 and terminals 6 are formed to cooperate so that terminals 6may easily be inserted from the open side of the housing and'frictionally retained within each chamber 3 of housing 4. Inaccomplishing this purpose, each side wall of housing 4 is provided withan offset portion 34 (FIG. 5) extending inwardly from the open side ofthe housing and each inner surface of the base 23 is provided with anintegral upwardly extending spacer portion 36 having a fiat uppersurface which extends between olfsets 34 and' has formed in each of itsends an offset 38 which forms with the adjacent offset 34 anapproximately half circular groove. The wire engaging portion 20 ofterminal 6 is provided wtih spaced wire guides 40 each of which consistsof an outwardly extending offset extending the height of terminal 6, andwhich are slidably located in the grooves formed by offsets 34-38. Theinner surface of base 28 of housing 4 is also provided on its lateralcenter line on each side of barrier 18 with an integral upwardlyextending projection 42 which is spaced inwardly of the inner surface ofside wall 30 and outwardly of barrier 18. Projection 42 is provided witha sloping surface 43 which extends from its upper surface inwardlytoward the base 23 and the barrier 18, for a purpose as will be morefully discussed hereinafter. As shown in FIG. 4, wire engaging portion20 of each terminal 6 is provided with a downwardly extending projection46, which is located between the outer end of projection 42 and theadjacent inner surface of side wall 30 to hold the central portion ofterminal 6 firmly in position within housing 4.

As indicated, the'prong engaging portions 22 of terminal 6 are offsetinwardly at each end of the wire engaging portion 20, and each is in theform of a longitudinally extending 'U-shape with the outer arm of eachintegrally connected to the wire guides 46 of its portion 20, andresting on the inner surface of base 2 8. The arms of each portion 22extend longitudinally within chamber 3 so that their open ends areopposed from each other and occupy a relatively small part of the heightof the lower housing 4. Accordingly, in order to provide surfaces forthe blades of an inserted connector (not shown) to engage, each arm ofportion 22 is provided with an integral upwardly extending bladeSZ so asto form a spaced pair of blades 52 at each end of chamber 3. In order toproperly locate the inner arm of portion 22 of terminal6' "in housing 4,each side of barrier 18 adjacent each portion 22 is provided with adownwardly extending sloping surface 54 which extends outwardlytherefrom toward the adjacent side wall 30 and terminates in a verticaldownwardly extending surface which engages the inner arm of portion 22and is substantially parallel to the inner surface of side walls 30.Each inner surface of side walls 30 is also provided with a pair ofprojections 56 which extend inwardly towards the barrier 18, atapproximately the midpoint of surface 54 thereof. Thus, it will be seenthat a terminal 6 may easily be inserted within the housing 4 by merelyinserting the wire guides 46 within the grooves formed by offsets 34-33;pressing downwardly on the terminal 6 so that the sloping surfaces 54cause the inner'arrns of terminal portion 22 to be slightly stressedtoward the inner surface of side wall 30 until surfaces 54 are clearedand the bottom edge of portions 22 and wire guides 40 will rest flushagainst the inner surface of'the base 28. In addition, projection 46 ofterminal 6 will be located at the same time. In order to prevent the armof the U-shaped portion 22 adjacent barrier 18 from traveling laterallyoutward from the barrier 18 an integral stop 58 is provided, which isspaced outwardly from the sloping surface 54, to engage the outersurface at the end of the inner arm of portion 22. Inasmuch as blades 52are for the purpose of receiving an inserted contact prong, at least oneof them may, if desired, be offset toward each other, and further, ifdesired, may be provided with a centrally located detent. Also, ifdesired, the free end of one or both blades 52 may 'be outward bent toguide an inserted prong between the blades 52.

"In order that a bare electrical conductor may be held in engagementwith terminal 6, a slightly bent single leaf spring 5 (FIG. 2) islocated on each side of barrier 1-8, each of which is supported on oneof its edges by the inner surface of base 28 laterally between the wireengaging portion 20 of terminal 6 and the barrier '18 andlongitudinal'ly between the U-shaped portion 22 of a terminal'6. Springs5 have a short middle portion 62 having an integral arm 64 extendingapproximately longitudinally outwardly from opposite sides thereof.Middle portion 62 is 'al so'provided at each of its longitudinal sideswith a pair of spaced laterally extending projections 66. The inner pairof projections 66 are spaced longitudinally apart to receive there'-between the adjacent laterally outwardly extending projection 67 ofbarrier 18 on the lateral center line of each housing 4, whereby springs5 are properly alignedwithin housing 4. As will become more apparent asthe description proceeds, springs 5 are supported so that their arms 64are independently movable in a plane at an angle to the wiring engagingportion 29 of terminal 6 at all times, and so that arms 64 extendlongitudinally across wire guides 40 at all times. Stops 58 also slopeoutwardlyand downwardly from barrier 18 and are terminated at a V-shapedindentation 59 (-FIG. 5) on the inner surface of base 28 for guiding andreceiving the outer ends of arms 64 of each spring 5. Referring to FIG.7, it will be noted that the undersurface of upper housing 2 is providedwith longitudinally and downwardly extending formed barriers 72 whichare laterally spaced inwardly from the inner surface of side walls 10,respectively. The longitudinally opposed surfaces of side walls 10 andbarriers 72 are formed to receive the upper portion of the Wire engagingportion 20 of terminal 6 therebetween, and are providedwith opposedspaced laterally downwardly extending ribs 74 and 75, respectively, forengaging the sides of the wire engaging portion 20 of the terminal 6inserted therebetween. As shown, three spaced projections 74 areprovided on the inner surface of side walls 10, the outer two of whichare located so as to engage the inner sides of the upper ends of wireguides 40 of terminal 6, respectively. Thus, when housing 2 is securedto housing 4, the ends of wire guides 40 are clamped, as shown in FIG.3, between the inner surface of base 28 and the inner surface of upperhousing 2. Also, each end of side walls 10 is provided with an integralirregularly formed downwardly extending wall 76 which extends around theadjacent slot 14 and joins the adjacent end of barrier 72 for receivingthe upper end of corresponding blades 52 of terminal 6 therein. Inasmuchas each terminal 6 and springs 5 cooperate in identical ways with boththe upper housing 2 and the lower housing 4, it is obvious that theterminals 6 and springs 5 may be used to equal advantage in eitherchamber 3.

As more clearly shown in FIGS. 7 and 10 each barrier 72 is provided onthe lateral center line of upper housing 2 with a projection 78 whichextends downwardly beyond the lower edge of barrier 72 and outwardlytoward the inner surface of adjacent side wall 10 so as to be cooperablewith the center projection 74 on side wall 10 to hold the upper centralportion of wire engaging portion 26 of terminal 6. The lower surface ofeach projection 78 is provided with a V-shaped groove having its arm 80adjacent the longitudinal center line of housing 2 larger than its otherarm for engaging the back surface of the middle portion 62 of spring 5.Thus, it will be noted that a spring 5 may easily be located in eachchamber 3 of housing 4 by inserting the pair of projections '66 at oneof its sides so as to receive projection 67 on barrier 18 and thenreleasing the spring 5 so that the sloping surfaces of stops 58 guidethe arms 64 into the indentations 59' in the base 28 of lower housing 4.At the same time, the upper surface 43 of projection 42 engages theundersurface of springs 5 to hold the middle portion 62 thereof upwardly'at an angle to the base 28 of housing 4. Thereafter, when housing 2 islocated on housing 4, the lower sloping surface of arm 80 of projection78 engages the upper surface of middle portion 62 of the spring 5 toclamp the middle portion 62 between it and the sloping surface 43 ofprojection 42 of housing 4, whereby each spring 5 is secured within itschambers 3. It will be noted that one end of each barrier 72 is providedwith a projection 86-, which is similar in configuration to arm 80 ofprojection 78 and which is longitudinally spaced therefrom, whichengages one arm 64 of a spring 5, when deflected, so as to limit theupward travel of that arm 64 as hereinafter described. Projection 86 isalso displaced outwardly towards its adjacent side wall 10. The otherarm 64 of each spring 5 is similarly limited by a longitudinallyelongated projection 87, formed integrally with arm 80 and barrier 72 inthe same longitudinal plane as projection 86.

Referring to FIG. 9 wherein a yoke 8 is shown, it will be noted that theyoke 8 comprises a formed central portion having an arm 88longitudinally extending from one of its sides and an arm 8-9longitudinally extending from its opposite side. The center portion ofyoke 8 is provided with laterally extending ears 90 which are offsetfrom the midpoint of yoke 8 toward arm 89. Each arm 88 and 89 terminatesin a laterally enlarged locating tab 97 which in turn terminates in anoutwardly extending anchoring tab 9 6 which may be secured to anysuitable support (not shown) by any suitable means (not shown) such asthe heads of screws engaging an opening 98 in each tab 96. A suitablecover securing means such as a tapped opening 92 is locatedapproximately at the center yoke 8. Yoke 8 is also provided withintegral means for securing upper housing 2 to lower housing 4comprising an L-shaped leg 188, which extends downwardly from the centerportion of yoke 8 and which is located on the opposite side of thelateral center line from the arm 89. As shown in dotted lines 101, leg100 may initially be formed in 'a single stamping operation from thesame piece of material as yoke 8, and thereafter bent at approximatelyright angles to the center portion thereof.

Referring again to FIGS. 7, 8 and 10, it will be noted that theunderside of upper housing 2 is provided with an open ended longitudinalextending flat surface 21 which is formed so that yoke 8 may be freelylocated thereon and thereafter forced longitudinally thereover wherebyyoke 8 is secured to housing 2. In order to provide means for preventingany substantial movement of yoke 8 transversely within upper housing 2,the various parts of the housing 2 adjacent surface 21 are formed toprovide a minimum of clearance between the housing 2 and yoke 8. Thus,at each end of housing 2 the walls 76 are spaced apart a distance toclosely receive the arms 88 and 89 of yoke 8 therebetween, respectively.Walls 76 also extend, in part, parallel to the arms 88 and 89 for asubstantial portion of their lengths. The underside of each surface'21at its outer end is provided with a pair of longitudinally extendingguide walls 23 which are laterally spaced to closely receive tabs 97 ofyoke 8 therebetween. In order that yoke 8 may be accessible from theupper side of housing 2, the upper side of housing 2 is provided with anopening 25, as will be more particularly described hereinafter, betweenthe opposed sides of faces 12. Arm 80 of each projection 78 extends fora short distance over adjacent opening 25 but terminates short of theplane of surface 21 a distance approximately equal or slightly less thanthe thickness of material from which the yoke 8 is formed.

In attaching yoke 8 to the upper housing 2, in accordance with myinvention, ears of yoke 8 are lowered between the longitudinally spacedprojections 86 and 78 at each side of housing 2 so that the uppersurfaces of ears 90 partially engage the upper surface 21 of housing 2and are partially located in opening 25. When so located, a part of thecentral portion of yoke 8 is located between projections 87 and alsoengages in part surface 21 of housing 2 and also extends partly inopening 25. In order to guide the center portion of yoke 8 when the yoke8 is longitudinally moved over surface 21, a longitudinally extendingguide 29 is formed integral with housing 2 which extends outwardly fromsurface 21 so that it engages the adjacent edge of the central portionof yoke 8 adjacent leg 100.

Using the terminology left and right as applied to FIG. 7, it will benoted that when yoke 8 is initially located to engage surface 21, theleft arm 89 extends between the left walls 76 and that the left tab 97is located between the left guide walls 23 and is spaced slightlyoutwardly from the left walls '76. The right arm 88 of yoke 8 is locatedbetween the right walls 76 and the right tab 97 is engaged at each ofits outer surfaces by the right guide walls 23. Thereafter yoke 8 ismoved to the right so that the central portion of yoke 8 is forced intoengagement with the adjacent end of guide 29 and into engagement withthe inner ends of the right walls 76. At the same time, the right tab 97is moved outwardly between the guide walls 23 so that the right car 96of yoke 8 is spaced outwardly from the right end of housing 2. Suchmovement also causes the left tab 97 of yoke 8 to move inward towardhousing 2 so that it is located between the right guide walls 23 ofhousing 2. If desired, in order that ears 90 of yoke 8 must be forcedover the arms 80 of projections 78 with a slight downward force, theupper surface of arms 80 may be inclined to extend slightly into theplane of movement of ears 90 of yoke 8. During such movement of the yoke8, the ears 90 of yoke 8 pass above the upper ends of arms 80 ofprojections 78, in frictional engagement therewith, whereby they occupya portion of the opening 25. With the yoke so located, it will be notedthat the tapped opening 92 is located substantially on the intersectionof the longiudinal and lateral central lines of housing 2. Further, itwill be noted that the yoke 8 is secured to housing 2, whereby the yokeand housing 2 assembly may readily be secured to the housing 4. It is,of course, obvious that yoke leg 188 must initially be bent downwardfrom stressing the arm Upon release of the conductor, the upper edge ofthe arm yoke 8 so that the yoke 8 may be located as indicated Within thehousing 2. As'shown, opening 25 in upper housing 2 is approximatelyT-shaped with its stem portion extending centrally along thelongitudinal center line of the upper housing 2. In order to obtain themaximum exposed area of the center portion of yoke 8, opening 25 extendsbetween the'opposed inner surfaces of faces 12 in the region occupied byears 90 of the yoke. It is believed obvious that when the yoke 8 islongitudinally moved Within upper housing 2 the ears 90 thereof willengage the end edge of the stem portion of opening 25 to limit theextent of such longitudinal movement of yoke 8 within' housing 2.Although a T-shaped opening 25 is utilized in'this embodiment of theinvention, it is obvious that other shapes of openings could be utilizedwith equal effectiveness.

Referring now to FIGS. 2 and 6, it will be noted that the lower housing4 is provided with a circular opening 33 substantially at theintersection of the longitudinal and lateral center lines thereof forreceiving any securing means which may extend through the tapped opening92 in the yoke 8. Lower housing 4 is also provided adjacent opening 33with a slanted rectangular opening 35 for receiving the leg 100 of theyoke 8 when the upper housing 2 is assembled with the lowerhousing 4; Itwill be noted that the outer bottom surface of lower housing 2 isprovided with a formed downwardly extending cam surface 35' which isrecessed below the lower surface of base 28 adjacent the leg 100 of yoke8 when the housing 2 is assembled to housing 4. Thereafter the housing 2may easily be secured to housing 4 by merely bending the outwardlyextending portion 37 of leg 106 into engagement with cam surface 35' sothat by the camming action the two housings are held securely together.As has been previously indicated when housing 2 is so assembled tohousing 4, springs are secured'at their midpoint within the completedreceptacle. Referring to FIGS. 1 and 6, it will be noted that when theupper housing 2 is assembled to the lower housing 4, the side walls ofupper housing 2 are formed to engage the formed side walls 30 of lowerhousing 4.

"In order that wiring connections may be made to the terminals 6 withinthe assembled receptacle, the base 28 of the lower housing 4 is providedwith an opening 41 below each wire guide 40 of each terminal 6. Inmaking the electrical connections, the free bare end of an electricalconductor is inserted through an opening 41 until its free end engagesthe inner surface of the wire guide 40 above the particular opening 41utilized. Thereafter, the conductor is forced upward until it engagesthe undersurface of the arm 64 of the spring 5 above the particularopening 41utilized. By applying further force, the arm 64 engaged by theconductor is forced to bend upwardly, thus 64, until the conductor slipspast it.

64 extends across and engages the conductor and'resiliently forces itfirmly in place against the portion 20 of its terminal 6. As can beappreciated, when exerting a force upon a bare conductor, the conductorwill tend to bend; in order, therefore, to inhibit such bending, thepath the conductor takes within the receptacle is confined by the wireguides 40 which extend the entire inner length of the assembledreceptacle to support the conductor against such bending at all times.In ordinary household Wiring, only a limited number of wire gauges areutilized which are within a limited diameter range. The maximum diameterwire that can be inserted within the assembled receptacle is obviouslylimited by the size of openings 41 in base 8. By constructing springs 5so that their arms 64 are independently movable, conductors of variousdiameters can effectively be held by the spring arms 64 by permittingarms 64 to deflect various distances away from terminals 6. Such aconstruction is particularly advantageous as only one conductor securingmeans need be employed for various wire sizes rather than individualmeans for each wire size.

Once wiring connections have been made to terminals 6, it is necessarythat some means be provided to release the inserted conductors from thearms 64 of springs 5. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, this purpose isaccomplished by providing each side wall 30 of the lower housing 4 witha pair of openings 39 inwardly adjacent the wire guides 40 of terminals6 and directly opposite the arms 64 of springs 5. By such means, anysuitable means, such as a screwdriver blade, may be inserted through anyone opening 39 to engage the undersurface of the arm 64 of a spring 5 inalignment therewith. Inasmuch as arm 64 is at an angle to the side ofthe assembled receptacle, a force exerted upon the inserted means willcause the arm 64 to be deflected upwardly toward the upper housing 2 andthereby release the conductor held thereby. It should be noted that aseach arm 64 of each spring 5 is securely clamped 'at its center, eacharm 64 may be deflected individually and any inserted conductor may beslectively removed without affecting any others.

Referring to FIG. 11, the modification of my invention shown therein issubstantially identical in all structural details to that previouslydescribed, except that a screw is utilized to hold the upper housing 2and the lower housing 4 together, rather than by using the leg 106 ofyoke 8. Accordingly, like parts have been given the same referencenumerals. With such construction, yoke 8 is provided with any suitablemeans for engaging screw 110 such as a tapped opening 112 onapproximately the longitudinal centerline of the yoke 8. The base 28 oflower housing 4 is provided with a recess 114 to receive the head ofscrew 110, and the central barrier 18 is provided with an opening 116 toreceive the shank of screw 110. It is believed obvious from suchconstruction that the receptacle when assembled is secured together bymerely inserting the shank of screw 110 through opening 116 so that itsthreaded end threadedly engages the tapped opening 112 in yoke 8. Ifdesired, the undersurface of the head of screw 110 may be provided withserrations 130, or a separate lock washer (not shown) may be used toincrease the holding power of screw 110. Also, if desired, to insurethat screw 110 properly engages opening 112, a recess 118 above opening112 in upper housing 2 may be provided whereby the end of screw 110 mayproject through the yoke 8.

Although I have shown and described particular modifications of myinvention in accordance with the patent statutes, I am aware that othermodifications thereof are possible without departing from the broadspirit and scope of my invention. Accordingly, it is desired that myinvention be not restricted except insofar as is necessitated by thetprior art.

I claim as my invention:

1. A wiring device comprising elongated upper and lower insulativehousing members, a substantially flat elongated yoke adapted to befreely located longitudinally of and on the undersurface of said uppermember, said yoke having at least one laterally extending tab disposedsubstantially centrally of the longitudinal dimension of said yoke, atleast one securing means extending downwardly from the undersurface ofsaid upper member and having an extending portion thereon spaced adistance approximately the thickness of said yoke from the plane of saidundersurface, said extending portion and said tab being substantially inalignment in the yoke longitudinal direction, said tab being locatedabove said extending portion when said yoke is moved toward saidextending portion in the yoke longitudinal direction so that said yokeis held against said upper member, and means for holding said lowermember against said yoke and said upper member and for preventingdisengaging longitudinal movement between said yoke and said uppermember so as to provide said wiring device in assembled form, saidholding and preventing means including a deformable tab integral withand extending substantially transversely of said yoke and said lowermember and bendable engageably over an outwardly facing portion of saidlower member.

2. A wiring device comprising an upper insulative member and a lowerinsulative member, said upper insulative member having an elongated yokesecured thereto, said yoke having a leg extending substantiallytransversely thereof through an opening in the lower insulative mem berwhich when engaged with said upper insulative member provides a unitaryhousing for said wiring device, the free end of said leg having aprojection bendable along an axis extending substantially in theextending direction of said leg, and said lower insulative member havingan external camming surface adjacent said opening extending angularlytoward the lower edge thereof so that movement of said projection ofsaid leg over said camming surface enables said projection to hold saidlower insulative member engageably with said upper insulative member andto account for dimensional tolerances of said insulative members andsaid yoke.

3. A wiring device comprising a pair of elongated insulative memberswhich when assembled form a unitary housing for said wiring device, anelongated yoke member disposed between and along said insulativemembers, means for securing said yoke to one of said insulative members,s aid yoke member having an integral portion extending substantiallytransversely thereof through an opening in the other of said insulativemembers, said integral portion having a projection bendable along anaxis extending substantially in the extending direction of said integralortion and engageably across a surface adjacent said opening in saidother insulative member.

4. A wiring device comprising elongated insulative base and covermembers and an elongated yoke member adapted for disposal on and alongan undersurface of said cover member, said yoke member having alaterally extending tab disposed substantially centrally of thelongitudinal dimension of said yoke, a projection extending downwardlyfrom the undersurface of said cover member and having an extendingportion thereon spaced a distance approximately equal to the thicknessof said yoke from the plane of said undersurface, said extending portionand said tab being substantially in alignment in the yoke longitudinaldirection, said tab being located above said extending portion when saidyoke is moved toward said extending portion in the yoke longitudinaldirection so that said yoke is held against said cover member, and meansfor holding said base against said yoke and said cover and forpreventing disengaging longitudinal movement between said yoke and saidcover so as to provide said wiring device in assembled form, saidholding and preventing means including a deformable tab integral withand extending substantially transversely of said yoke and base member,said yoke tab having a projection bendable along an axis extendingsubstantially in the extending direction of said yoke tab and engageablyacross an outwardly facing portion of said base member.

5. A wiring device comprising elongated insulative base and covermembers and an elongated yoke member adapted for disposal on and alongan undersurface of said cover member, said yoke member having alaterally extending tab disposed substantially centrally of thelongitudinal dimension of said yoke, a projection extending downwardlyfrom the undersurface of said cover member and having an extendingportion thereon spaced a distance approximately equal to the thicknessof said yoke from the plane of said undersurface, said extending portionand said tab being substantially in alignment in the yoke longitudinaldirection, said tab being located above said extending portion when saidyoke is moved toward said extending portion in the yoke longitudinaldirection so that said yoke is held against said cover member, and meansfor holding said base against said yoke and said cover and forpreventing disengaging longitudinal movement between said yoke and saidcover so as to provide said wiring device in assembled form, saidholding and preventing means including a leg integral with said yoke andextending substantially transversely thereof through an opening in saidbase member, the free end of said leg having a projection bendable alongan axis extending substantially in the extending direction of said leg,and said base member having an external camming surface adjacent saidopening extending angularly toward the lower edge thereof so thatmovement of said projection of said leg over said camming surfaceenables said projection to hold said base member engageably with saidcover member and to account for dimensional tolerances of saidinsulative members and said yoke.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

1. A WIRING DEVICE COMPRISING ELONGATED UPPER AND LOWER INSULATIVEHOUSING MEMBERS, A SUBSTANTIALLY FLAT ELONGATED YOKE ADAPTED TO BEFREELY LOCATED LONGITUDINALLY OF AND ON THE UNDERSURFACE OF SAID UPPERMEMBER, SAID YOKE HAVING AT LEAST ONE LATERALLY EXTENDING TAB DISPOSEDSUBSTANTIALLY CENTRALLY OF THE LONGITUDINAL DIMENSION OF SAID YOKE, ATLEAST ONE SECURING MEANS EXTENDING DOWNWARDLY FROM THE UNDERSURFACE OFSAID UPPER MEMBER AND HAVING AN EXTENDING PORTION THEREON SPACED ADISTANCE APPROXIMATELY THE THICKNESS OF SAID YOKE FROM THE PLANE OF SAIDUNDERSURFACE, SAID EXTENDING PORTION AND SAID TAB BEING SUBSTANTIALLY INALIGNMENT IN THE YOKE LONGITUDINAL DIRECTION, SAID TAB BEING LOCATEDABOVE SAID EXTENDING PORTION WHEN SAID YOKE IS MOVED TOWARD SAIDEXTENDING PORTION IN THE YOKE LONGITUDINAL DIRECTION SO THAT SAID YOKEIS HELD AGAINST SAID UPPER MEMBER, AND MEANS FOR HOLDING SAID LOWERMEMBER AGAINST SAID YOKE AND SAID UPPER MEMBER AND FOR PREVENTINGDISENGAGING LONGITUDINAL MOVEMENT BETWEEN SAID YOKE AND SAID UPPERMEMBER SO AS TO PROVIDE SAID WIRING DEVICE IN ASSEMBLED FORM, SAIDHOLDING AND PREVENTING MEANS INCLUDING A DEFORMABLE TAB INTEGRAL WITHAND EXTENDING SUBSTANTIALLY TRANSVERSELY OF SAID YOKE AND SAID LOWERMEMBER AND BENDABLE ENGAGEABLY OVER AN OUTWARDLY FACING PORTION OF SAIDLOWER MEMBER.